GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNC Greensboro Interim Director of Athletics Kevin Bostian announced the removal of the interim tag and named Kaleigh Roach head coach of the cross country and track programs on a full-time basis. Roach joined the coaching staff as the assistant coach in July and has been the interim head coach since August.
“We are excited to bring Kaleigh on full-time as the next head coach of the cross country and track programs,” Bostian said. “Kaleigh has proven her ability with the teams in the last couple of months and has demonstrated her technical knowledge, gift of teaching, and desire to lead our programs. Kaleigh has proven to be a valuable and impactful member of the Spartan family and I am thrilled she will continue to serve our student-athletes. We look forward to seeing her transition the success from the fall season to the track.”
During the cross country season, Roach coached the men’s team to a top-15 ranking in the Southeast Region for two straight weeks. The men’s team also won the title at the Pirate Invitational before competing at the Southern Conference Championships. The men’s team finished fifth at SoCon Championships, while the women finished fourth overall. Graduate student Ariana Garcia earned her second all-conference honor, taking home 14th overall.
Both teams also competed at the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships in Louisville, Kentucky, where they both earned their best finish since 2013. The men posted a 20th-place finish out of 30 teams, while the women finished 22nd out of 31 teams.
“I’m incredibly humbled and grateful for the opportunity to lead this program,” stated Roach. “The support I have received from administration, alumni, family, friends, colleagues and mentors in this journey has encouraged me daily. I am dedicated to helping this program grow and consider it a tremendous honor to help invest in the lives of these student-athletes.”
Roach joined the Spartans in July after spending the last year as the director of operations for the UAB cross country/track and field team.
While at UAB, Roach was responsible for the day-to-day operations for the cross country/track and field team including assisting in designing and developing trainings for distance events, managing team travel and purchasing equipment for the team. In addition, she assisted in coaching for the 2021 outdoor track & field season. She was also in charge of developing the course for the 2020 Blazer Invite and the 2020 Conference USA Cross Country Championships.
As an athlete, Roach was a member of the North Greenville University cross country/track and field programs from 2015-19. During her five years, she earned a spot on the 2016 and 2018 Cross Country All-Conference Carolina teams. She earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic honors all five years. Roach transferred to UAB as a graduate student to finish her career. While at UAB, Roach was a member of the 2020 C-USA cross country championship team as well as the 2020 Division I South Regional cross country championship team.
Roach earned her Bachelor of Science in mathematics from North Greenville in May 2019 and her Master of Science in data science from UAB in May 2021.